Acts 11:19-30 | God Leads From New Placesනියැදිය

Antioch was a cultural trendsetter. They were known for coining a phrase and giving nicknames. It was here that the disciples of Jesus were first called “Christian.”

Until this point, Christians had no uniform label or name. They were Jews who believed in Jesus. They were disciples of Jesus. Period. You’ll find other terms batted around as both Jews and Gentiles tried to make sense of them: followers of This Life (Acts 5:20), The Way (Acts 9:2), and the Nazarene Sect (Acts 24:5). But it was in Antioch that the name which would last throughout history stuck: Christiani.

The nickname is a root with a suffix. The root is easy: Christ. Here were these people, always talking about Christ. Praying to Christ. Worshiping Christ. Loving Christ. Following Christ. Obsessed with Christ. Christ, Christ, Christ.

Christ is a Greek word. The Jewish equivalent is Messiah. Both mean anointed, and in the Old Testament, the most famously anointed were kings. The title got used so much for Jesus it practically became a proper name, much the same way we think of Caesar Augustus as a name, even though Caesar is a family name that became a title, along with Augustus, which just means “revered one.” History calls him by the name Caesar Augustus, even though this emperor’s name is Octavian. And here were these people, always talking about Jesus as this new king, this Christ, and giving their lives to follow him.

Add the suffix -iani. It’s Latin, and basically means “belonging to,” like a group of followers or groupies.

It was all meant sarcastically. They called them Christiani to make fun of them. It was mockery, as if to say, “Look at all these little Christs – these Jesus wannabees.”

And when the disciples heard it, they wore it as a badge of honor. “Wait, you think I’m like Christ? You see Christ in me?!?” They saw no greater honor. They were a Christ-people. A new kind of people transcending all known categories in a new kind of way. As Peter Leithart writes: A "Christian" is of the "party of Christ." It’s the party of the new humanity, the union of Jews and Gentiles indicated by the word “Christian,” which is "a Greek word of Latin form and Semitic background."

Whatever the word “Christian” has come to mean today, and no matter how it may be misused and misapplied, let your highest goal and highest honor come from being identified with Jesus, the Christ.